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When it comes to “old” media , TV seems to be the one form of traditional media that has learned how to utilize the net to its advantage. The internet is still a content threat, but the TV world, unlike the worlds of music, film and publishing seems to have more quickly understood the pitfalls and opportunities. Instead of pulling up the drawbridge and preparing for battle, TV joined in and utilized the internet.

Companies that make their living selling content are reeling. Newspapers have been closing at a record rate. The music business is reeling like never before. ITunes has helped reset the playing field, but it’s nothing like it was before. Book publishing has been hit, particularly the brick and mortar bookstores and for the film industry it could just be a matter of time, before the ability to download free content (legal or otherwise) will make a true dent in their profits.

When it comes to “old” media , TV seems to be the one form of traditional media that has learned how to utilize the net to its advantage. Advertising took a huge hit last year, but the economy was also in the throws of the worst recession since the (strangely named) Great Depression. Just about everyone took a huge hit last year, not just TV ad revenues. But apart from basic economic ebbs and flows, TV seems to be the one form of media that has not only been able to weather the internet threat, but to utilize it.

To quote a recent article in The Economist: “In the final quarter of 2009 the average American spent almost 37 hours a week watching television. Earlier this year 116 million of them saw the Super Bowl-a record for a single program. Far from being cowed by the new media , TV is colonizing it.” The article goes on to explain how shows like “American Idol” and “Britain’s Got Talent” utilize the net to their advantage. Watchers are constantly messaging one another about such shows on email IM, Facebook or Twitter.

Plus, TV is a reactive media. It doesn’t require much from the viewer. You turn it on, put on the channel you want and there you are. Although many programs are available online, most viewers are not going to do the work it takes to find their programs through nontraditional outlets. The internet is still a content threat, but the TV world, unlike the worlds of music and publishing seems to have more quickly understood the possible pitfalls and opportunities. Instead of pulling up the drawbridge and preparing for battle, TV joined in creating sites such as Hulu a joint venture of ABC, Fox and NBC; an unlikely partnership, but a smart one.

Other content providers are beginning to understand that the way to fight the internet is not to fight it at all, but to blend with it and make it an extension of their brand and their information outlets, but the TV world is way ahead of the game

Verizon FiOS TV (fiber-optic television) is the fastest and largest growing network in the United States! And it keeps spreading becoming even more popular as people stand in the showrooms to find out just how well FiOS stands up against regular television.

People are discovering how clear and close to life Verizon FiOS TV really is. Once you see it for yourself, you will never want to go back to your old TV service providers. The perfectly clear picture is not the only great thing about Verizon FiOS; you get over 200 all digital channels and a very unique home media DVR that offers multi room functions.

The one DVR can record a movie while the family watches TV, then you can set it up at a later date to play the movie in any room in the house. This will save you a lot of money because you only have to have one DVR. You will be able to watch 3 different recorded shows on three different TV sets at once. The plus to having the DVR is that you can record 80 hours of SD programming and 20 hours of High Definition programming. You can also choose the HD Receiver, which allows you to access Verizon FiOS TV’s HD programming. Or you could choose the SD Receiver as an option as well.

You can also view over 14,000 movies every month with the On Demand Options. If you are tired of watching the same old boring TV stations that you see over and over, the On Demand will allow you to watch movies 24/7 if you choose to.

When it comes to the installation, you are treated with the utmost respect and the skilled technicians will be more than happy to set up your entire home and they will not leave until you are completely satisfied. They will explain the process of the installations and everything that you get with it, all for no extra charge.

Verizon FiOS TV gives you several convenient plans, plus you can customize a package to meet your desire. If you prefer, or are unsure what sort of programming you want, you can start with the basic package and customize it at any time in the future. The bundled package include the Verizon FiOS Triple Play and Double Play where you package more than 1 service up to get a better discount. These FiOS packages are most popular because of the maximum savings you will achieve!

Why wait to have the greatest TV set in town, join the rest of the Verizon FiOS community. You can be the talk of your town with your big screen TV and FiOS – which make a great combo. Get the thrill of your life. You will be glad you did. Check to see if you can get Verizon FiOS in your area right now.

Many people do not realise how much media affects us in our daily lives. We are literally controlled by media: it determines the way we dress, what we eat and what lifestyle we pursue. Many people spend hours just flicking through channels till their bedtime.

Although we may not realise, it is media that makes us feel the way we feel, which is usually depressed, having no purpose in life and just feeling sad. The more you watch TV or listen to radio news, the more disasters you will hear, e.g. that someone was killed in your neighbourhood or that times are hard. Media forms the way we think and we let the media do this.

From my personal experience I can tell you that I have not watched TV for two years now. As soon as I stopped watching it, I instantly became happier. Instead of watching TV or flicking through newspapers I spent my time reading about how to acquire wealth, how to be healthy and positive. The absence of the influential media changed my life. I became a different person – I stopped gossiping, judging people, I became much more positive and happy. To tell you the truth, I did not have a bad day since I stopped being involved in the media.

But then many would argue that it is impossible to disengage from media as we would be not updated on current situation etc. But I would rather CHOOSE what I wish to be updated on by using on-line search engines, rather than just turn on the TV only to be bombarded by the depressing information.

Why do we always hear more negative than positive information on TV? Why do we feel sad, angry and insecure after watching news? Sometimes I think that society is kept in fear by such ways. Then common people are discouraged to achieve more, to start their own business because the media tells them that now the economic situation is disastrous and many businesses fail. I think it is ridiculous when people take everything that is told for granted.

The way many people live can be summed up in a few sentences: they work for someone else, they go home, eat, watch TV and sleep. Then on weekends they go shopping for cheap stuff to spend all their money in useless ways only to find themselves in debt after a few days of getting salaries. Then they go on vacation for a week or two once a year.

That is not life. That is a horrible loop they are stuck in. To break away from such life means to change habits. Change the habit of listening to media to doing something useful in that time. Reading is always good. Reading how to acquire wealth was my favourite pastime.

If yo do not like to read, buy educational tapes or DVDs, attend seminars. These are interactive and very useful ways to acquire knowledge and change your life. When you stop listening to the media, you will find yourself happier, healthier and wealthier. You will travel much more often, meet interesting people, maybe even start a new relationship. Things will change – I will guarantee you this. Get rid of this negative influence and you will change your life for good.

Do not hesitate to email me with your feedback on my articles! Thank you for taking time to read this post.

I am so happy I just discovered I can watch TV on my PC. Before television on my computer I was paying over $75 a month for cable. Canceling your cable service is a very pleasurable experience. The customer service representatives there sometimes say that getting tv on your PC isn’t possible. One only has to try the service for a minute to know this isn’t true.

There are several options out there. To get tv on your pc used to require additional equipment. This is no longer the case. If you have a PC and are online, then you are ready to go. All you need is a simply downloaded program. Some companies attempt to charge a monthly license fee for this software in an attempt to mimic the cable companies.

A few allow you to break the monthly payment cycle forever. Charging a one time fee only, you are perpetually able to receive satellite tv channels with no ongoing cost. Many think it sounds to good to be true. I admit I was one of them. However, seeing is believing. Not only does it work, but you would be astounded at the selection of programming.

Some programs offer up to 3000 channels. Yes, three thousand. That puts my old cable line up to shame. It is possible to receive channels from all over the globe. Watching live coverage from Rio one minute then Iraq the next is wild. It is as if a window has opened up to the world. Whether it be news, sports or movies the best of all countries becomes available right on your PC.

Friends who are rabid soccer fans are rushing to get this service now. Whatever the sport, many fans can not access their favorite games and team on regular cable television. Satellite TV on your computer allows for an incredible choice between events from all over the world. Never again will you utter that there is nothing good on to watch.

As I mentioned, the best part is that there is nothing left to pay after purchasing the initial software. Never. No ongoing monthly bills like all normal cable and satellite services entail. I read this software used to cost several hundred dollars. Some companies would charge comparable amounts to cable bills for its use each month. However, recently that has changed.

My timing was perfect because the most cutting edge package has now hit the market, and I can’t believe what a bargain it was. After confirming with the seller that it was 100% legal, the plunge was made. Download was as simple as downloading and installing any other software program.

Within minutes, I was able to watch TV on my PC. The best part is that home computers are now easily connected to televisions. Viewed this way, the amazing high def picture is fully experienced along with all sound effects. Nothing is missing except the bill. Added were several thousand channels. I wonder why anyone has cable anymore.

The late Terence McKenna, the American ethnobotanist and mystic, once exclaimed, “We have to create culture, don’t watch TV, don’t read magazines, don’t even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you’re worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are dis-empowered, you’re giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained, this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told ‘no’, we’re unimportant, we’re peripheral. ‘Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.’ And then you’re a player, you don’t want to even play in that game. You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that’s being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.”

Indeed, the media has been responsible for propagating the widespread misinformation we see today. This insidious plot of social engineering, whether we acknowledge this or not, can be found in tailored TV, radio and newspapers, that are filled with celebrity tittle-tattle and government propaganda, (ISIS, Syria, et al.), essentially giving their recommendations on what to wear, who you should aspire to be, and what to believe. Most of it bile with endless fear-mongering and lacking any semblance of truth.

Impartiality is not their concern, and control and obedience is, and remains their sole aim as they continue to churn out half-truths and innuendos that line a popular political narrative that stick like barnacles on a whale, to nudge and cajole a susceptible viewing public to align with one commonly held point of view.

Most people are aware of this of course, however, as social conditioning is part of the fabric of our media culture this can go unnoticed, and is transferred as if by osmosis, and we are affected regardless, unless are concerted effort is made on our part not to react in the negative. The general populace can seem so burdened by the very act of daily living, they can feel almost powerless to mount a rebellion. However, a sea of change is afoot and those among the elite know this, and the movement is now gathering pace.

What we can do now is to resist this element of mind control by refusing to listen and to explore other sources of information to keep up to date and well-informed. Turning off the TV and radio in the first instance, and in so doing taking some of our power back. Effectively shutting the hatch on the rising tide of excrement that you may hear lapping against the shutter door, but just enough to prevent it seeping through. Expunged of government and media brainwashing tactics, we will hopefully develop a clearer mind and become instinctively aware of the many injustices around the world, and by refusing to accept the status quo, potentially enable everyone to live more empowered and fulfilling lives and finally usher in the long-awaited collapse of the controlling elite.

The news media is more than a source for information and current events. It has become a “roller coaster ride” of drama and self-aggrandizement. We consumers of these presentations are swept up and our visceral anxiety responses are fanned into a frenzy. But why are swept up in this media blitz of emotion?

Since the dawning of the “Information Age” in the 1970’s, we have been steadily drawn into an escalating 24/7 need for worldwide news and the media has provided us with anxiety producing excitement from every corner of the world. Technology allows this instant communication and seems to encourage our “need to know” mentality. We “need to know” because we have a very primitive survival mechanism that stimulates our external focus on any threats, even perceived threats that may exist thousands of miles away, so our unconscious minds can protect us by preparing to fight or to flee from “danger.” When the Flight/Fight Response is triggered, our reactive, survival mechanisms take priority. We can react with “knee jerk” habitual patterns that are unique to our learned responses, but are born from the survival reaction. One major reaction that occurs for many people under threat is a reduced ability to creatively problem solve and communicate effectively. We react and often do not really think things through. When this occurs, mistakes can be made. Accidents can happen. People or projects can get hurt. Relationships can be harmed. Our world can suffer by becoming a victim to poor rational thought in cases of fear or media driven anxiety. It is an extra “heaping, helping” of annoying distractions that take us away from self-care, focus on priorities, and creative pursuits that promote productivity and well-being.

Just before 9/11/2001 our news media changed. Do you remember? About 3 months prior to the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania, the television news media upgraded their reporting to include, not just a “talking head” (reporter) giving us the “news” but also text messages flying by on the bottom of the screen, and often a graphic on the left of the “talking head.” Now we have to deal with 3 sources of information simultaneously. This multi-tasking creates added frenetic anxiety in coping with this increased input. Have humans evolved to keep pace with this new use of technology? When we are threatened, we have a response that NEEDS to know what is going on around us so that we can take action and survive any threat. We are often overwhelmed. We have learned to cope by becoming unconscious regarding this media craziness. The media fights to keep our attention. The media has evolved their approach to sensationalize their coverage, to yell at us even louder, with more graphic events that “demand” our attention. Even the weather news whips us with “STORM” coverage that makes weather events major news, even when it occurs hundreds of miles away!

To combat this media blitz on our senses we must do three things. First, we must become aware that we can become victims to sensationalism that may not necessarily be an immediate threat, and filter the news so that we can respond more appropriately. Secondly, as my friend Rodger Ruge suggests, we should consider a media “Fast,” where we reduce and limit the amount of media news that we subject ourselves to. For many of us, turning off the news, especially before bedtime, would be a very good option. The third necessary step is to practice self-care and strengthen our emotional foundations by eating better, avoiding caffeine, getting regular exercise, and practicing daily relaxation.

Awareness of the media frenzy can help protect us and our children from the “overwhelm.” Since the mid 1980’s, we have been deluged by new technologies that force us to react to news and information that is swirling around us. We have experienced: pagers, fax machines, cable TV with 500 channels, Cell phones, text messaging, e-mail, internet information, changes in media coverage of world “disasters,” “robo-calls” at dinner time, and huge expectations that we are plugged in 24/7 and can respond instantaneously even when we are driving our cars…. This is crazy making! Some people can handle this gracefully, in fact, some people can thrive in this environment. But most of us are just victims to our technology and can benefit from setting some limits on the ways that we use, and react to, our technologies… We need to evolve and to create survival strategies that meet our unique, individual requirements.

Please be smart and figure out how to “not become a VICTIM” to the media and our newest technologies!

When we see natural disasters on the TV, we think that we filter the visceral effects on our survival systems, but our unconscious often reacts to the possible threats that are perceive through our visual and auditory senses. When we witness “coverage” of war zones, murders, attacks, rapes, fires, or vehicular accidents, we may believe that this does not affect us at a “conscious level,” but we are still triggering the flight/fight response in some systems at an unconscious level. Have you ever noticed your heart race or your gut tighten when confronted by news or movies? Does your neck, jaw, or back react to accidents or disasters that you witness in person or on TV? Do thoughts of “media images” ever pop into your conscious mind as you try to sleep? We are bombarded by negative media attacks almost everyday.

Do media pundits ever whip you up with their “news coverage” or editorials so that anger or fear seem to rise to the surface of you or your loved ones? This can be emotionally and physically hard on our systems…. Be aware and do not get caught up in the media circus, if at all possible.

Final note. Many people are studying and applying the principles of the “Law of Attraction” believing that goal setting and positive attitudes toward achieving these goals is essential to success. World class competitive athletes have been using these “Sports Psychology” techniques in their training regimen for decades to achieve advantages in mental preparation in their events. When we get caught in the sensationalized, negative reporting by the various media we are sapped of our positive thoughts and energy. We lose our focus on attracting success and positive outcomes. In fact, we can be overwhelmed by negativity. This can strip you of your ability to problem solve in positive and creative ways. Negative thoughts can attract negative outcomes, mistakes, and ill health. Avoiding negativity (and negative thoughts) can be a path to better health and lead to positive outcomes. “Dwell in the Light” and when you feel overwhelmed, consider turning off the negative newscasts and immerse yourself in a book or audio program, or a video that will inspire you with positive; thoughts, actions, and emotions.

For many young adults, they can never imagine life without computers, music video production and reality television. Many of these things got it’s start in the 1970’s or even later. This article will discuss the history of MTV, or the music television channel that has become a staple of cable television for many households with teens or young adults. Today’s youth are much more tuned into various types of media outlets using their computers or phones to see videos on Facebook, vimby preditor, Twitter and YouTube. It all started in 1977 with a small cable TV network that had a show called Sight On Sound in Columbus Ohio.

This show was a new concept as a music channel that featured concerts as well as music oriented TV programs. It was the first two way cable TV program where viewers could call in and vote for their favorite song or artist that was being shown on the program. This cable network also had other programs like a children’s show but the one that really became popular was the music channel. Viewers had never been able to see a concert or see a band interviewed on TV before unless they went to a concert themselves so it was a great new concept. With this increasing popularity, the network changed their format in 1981 to be called MTV-music television.

The original idea of MTV was to model it after the top 40 radio shows, putting on the best pop rock bands at the time. Instead of having a disc jockey like they did on the radio, they hired several young hip hosts to introduce the videos and called them VJ’s as in video jockeys. Some of these original VJ’s on MTV ended up being celebrities in their own right from the enormous amount of exposure that they got from being on MTV at the start.

Because music videos started out as just someone recording the band playing music, many film directors got involved and started creating a much more elaborate concept for the videos. They took a song and made almost a small movie type of clip that told the story of the song. This is how many of these film directors that went on to be quite famous got their first start, making music videos. With the increasing popularity of this channel and the new wave of music videos playing in the early 1980’s, the network created the MTV Music Video Awards in 1984. This was a way for the music industry to showcase some bands in a more hip and alternative way than the Grammy’s offered.

MTV soon started adding other types of shows on the channel like animated cartoons for the adolescent and young adult crowd, and they were the first ones to have a reality show creating the concept of the Real World where they had several young adults live together and have their lives filmed while adjusting to each other and a new city. MTV pioneered many of the popular shows that young adults continue to watch today.

Caleb hangs his back-pack up everyday when he comes home from middle school. He kicks off his shoes, uses the bathroom, maybe fixes himself something to eat. The remote control gets grabbed, but mainstream TV is not what comes on the screen. Through the Sony Google Net Box, Caleb dials up a list of YouTube videos. He is absorbed as he watches one video after another and then another and another. By time his parents tell him to shut it off and get to his homework, not one single network program has been viewed. The sixth grader can’t tell you what’s on Nickelodeon. Cartoon Network has no influence. YouTube’s immense collection of videos about video games and random funny stuff are his poison.

Caleb’s parents are beginning to wonder about the benefits of keeping cable. Besides the diminishing cable TV interest of their son, the cable company recently decided to take away a few more channels and make them exclusive on the premium package. This came only too soon after another hike in their monthly rate. The combination of cable, Netflix and occasional Red Box now has the parents paying more on home entertainment than ever before. If the family can become more dependent on their Sony Box, then all they’ll have to pay for is the internet service (and possibly Netflix.) Ether way, the impact of YouTube and other video hosting platforms will probably serve as the tipping point in their decision.

Recent advantages in technology have added fuel to this video watching revolution. New video hosting platform websites have been popping up all over. HTML 5 and its built-in video player make it easy for anyone with server space to show off videos. Digital media distributors can provide and package the means for anyone to create their own video hosting platform website. Sites that used to just let you showcase photos are now bursting with video.

Because of all of this, marketing through digital channels now takes on a whole new look. Hundreds of thousands of businesses and other organizations now use video to increase results; and they do it by providing their content to video hosting platform sites like YouTube, Daily Motion, Metacafe and Vimeo. In turn, they share the content through the platform to other sites, apps and blogs, giving the good content out there legendary status. Internet celebrities are discovered overnight. Going viral is now a worthy quest.

The challenge for marketers is how to stand-out when sharing content. Successful ways have included the ever-present list making and interactive ranking. Through the convenient application of embed-able mark-up offered at these hosting platforms, website owners all around the WWW are listing and ranking their top video picks. Even the larger media outlets have joined in the game (see Fox News, Billboard, and USA Today.) Some of the sites doing a consistently good job at listing the best online videos are: mashable.com, Wikipedia and Huffington Post (now operating their own platform – aol.com.) For those not entertained by a mere list, there are ranking/rating sites that get viewers involved. In addition to the video platform hosts offering their own ways for visitors to interact, some of the more relevant high brow social media sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon and Digg use the power of collective judgment to filter up the best quality viral video. Other fun video watching sites like Funny or Die and Blip tv let their audiences select winners and losers of popular online videos.

The landscape of entertainment is changing. Soon the myopic conduits of television content will be replaced with the fluid and dynamic content channels that stem from the World Wide Web. With the influx of new devices and brilliantly easy HTML coding, the ability to provide better-than-ever variety and quality will become the standard norm.

Much has been talked about globalisation, its pros and cons, its promises and failures, and how it can or cannot help developing countries follow the trajectories of development charted by those who have already achieved the distinction of being officially called the ‘developed nations’. The debates have centred on pure economics of it: the merits or otherwise of market economics based on international trade and investment, with resource allocation mediated by international free market forces. In more sense than one, globalisation is not new – even before the Europeans rode the high tide of globalisation, Chinese and Indian traders dominated the globalised market of pre-medieval world.

There are three important factors that are overlooked in most discourses on the current round of globalisation, although these have potential to make significant impact on the lives of billions of people in poor countries which globalisation has simply passed by. First, when Britain and America led their brand of globalisation in the eighteenth to the twentieth century, they ensured that they were themselves not ‘globalised’ – they developed their domestic market and capacity of the masses to play their role in the market. This helped in broadening and deepening the effects of globalisation by making sure that the benefits were not confined to the rich and the moneyed who went out to ‘globalise’. That unfortunately is not happening in many of the poorer countries now where millions of people remain disenfranchised, and too incapacitated to play their role in a global market.

The second most important departure from previous globalisations, and perhaps the one that holds out the most prospect for the poor and the powerless, has been in the concept of global rights, especially in the global policy regimes on rights to development and application of humanitarian laws. Just as the current chapter of globalisation drew the world closer in terms of free market mechanism and unfettered capital flows, it also brought about a realisation that basic rights to protection, assistance and development as enshrined in different human rights conventions and international humanitarian laws needed global application. These are often referred to as second generation rights involving universal minimum welfare entitlements, as opposed to the first generation rights which relate to individual liberty and freedom on which an universal consensus ideology is yet to emerge. You could not have economic growth and prosperity for some, while turning a blind eye to the denial of basic rights to life and protection for a large majority of the world. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and reshaping of the international aid architecture following the Monterrey consensus are part of this global agenda. MDGs are not just wish lists for donor agencies or governments, but reflect commitments to ensure that various instruments under the international humanitarian laws and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) are met by the governments in the first instance.

For the first time in the history of humanity, the language of rights entered the frame of discussions and policy making at national and international levels in the past decade. The economic, social and cultural rights include a number of claims, like claims to social security and a certain standard of living, including claims to adequate food, clothing, housing, health care, sanitation, education, etc. Prior to this, despite having various conventions and protocols agreed and ratified by governments, these hardly provided any strong reference point when it came to implementation, especially in developing countries. The introduction of rights in development discourse recognised that access to good healthcare is not just something a good government ought to provide, it is a right of the villagers who never see their health workers visit the derelict primary healthcare centre to demand it. Likewise, when the devastating Tsunami hit the Indian Ocean area, the affected families in the Tsunami-hit areas had a right to receive assistance in the form of food, shelter and livelihoods from the national governments and from the international humanitarian agencies like the UN, the International and national non-government organisations. It is no longer the case of ‘a good government’ doing a favour to its chosen subjects, nor a poor woman surviving on the generosity of a large-hearted non-government organisations (NGO). There are rights, duties (duty of care) and obligations that come into the equation. Thanks to globalisation that triggered this global thinking.

This has been the most significant achievement of globalisation: the recognition of individuals as ‘subjects’ of international law, and so of international concern, and bringing into the development equation the economic, social and cultural rights which national and international development processes ought to strengthen.

Thanks to globalisation, global media and public opinion, the renewed commitment to providing basic needs of life and livelihoods as a matter of right has meant that governments can no longer hide behind the curtain of sovereignty and still maintain a facade of a nation which tramples upon the rights and liberties of individuals. China could get away with Tiananmen massacre in 1989, but Chinese businesses and government would shudder to think what would become of their global dreams if the same were to occur in the 21st century. It is globalisation again which by leveraging public scrutiny of war crimes now enables international governance to bring to book perpetrators of crimes against humanity in the International War Crimes Tribunal.

Finally, it is globalisation again which has made the world flatter by democratising technology. That you and I, and billions others, can communicate in real time, although separated by a distance of tens of thousands of miles, and that we ordinary folks can have the same access to vital information which in the past would have been handed down to us from those who rule and govern us, mean that each one of us now have tremendous power to influence the world. After the Haiti earthquake, we saw social media, (the facebook, twitter, Digg, Myspace to name a few) play a vital role in bringing out the reality and gravity of the situation through numerous stories and eye-witness accounts as the situation started unfolding from day one, including where aid agencies were failing in reaching out to the affected communities. Five years ago when the Tsunami happened in Asia, we were relying on the big newspapers and TV channels to bring us stories, which sometimes were either late or only covered areas the TV cameras could reach. After the Haiti earthquake, through the millions of blogs and micro-blogs, we saw millions of concerned citizens the world over expressing their solidarity with the victims. Through these, we also saw a more extensive and mature portrayal of the crisis that was unfolding: the catastrophic destruction and damages aside, we also saw the challenges in providing any rescue or relief operations, the lack of infrastructure for providing relief and why aid was slow in reaching out to the affected communities, real time stories of what the humanitarian response was or wasn’t doing. We were no longer relying solely on the news that the governments, established media and aid agencies were dishing out to us. That was a remarkable transformation in a short span of five years.

Internet marketing, website marketing, call it what you will, can be a bit like a maze. You charge off down one route……dead end. Someone sends you off down another route with a big smile on their face…….another dead end. Another route looks promising…….until it fizzles out and you reach another dead end. You can’t cheat by looking over the hedge, it’s about 20 feet high! A big ladder so you can get a good view? No, they’ve all been hidden. None left on the planet! Except those in the vaults of the internet gurus, you suspect.

So, you keep going around this maze, and at every turn there’s advertising, all about the maze itself, telling you about which way to go. Plans of the maze which, if you follow, may get you half way round, only to find you need to buy another plan to get the rest of the way. So what do you do? Carry on around this maze unaided? Or buy another plan? You buy another plan of this maze, and lo and behold, you end up at a place somewhere near the exit into real open daylight (you think), but how do you get the correct final few turns? Anyway, maybe you’re not near the exit after all? You could be on the far side of the maze from the exit. Sound familiar?

If you’ve been researching the internet from a business point of view for any length of time, you have probably found that much of the advertising, the marketing, is about …………….. internet marketing. This is partly why it can seem like a maze. If you are not sure what is going to work to market your website, or the products in it, how do you know which advice to listen too, which “offers” to take up?

Why is Internet Marketing Such a Maze?

Marketing is a subject I’ve been interested in for many years, long before I was partner in an advertising related business in the early 90’s. Then, marketing was a quite stable world. The most recent “change” of any significance had been TV, and TV advertising had evolved steadily over several decades. It was glossy, glamorous, and………..very expensive. That was good for the big advertising agencies, and they chased the big advertisers with massive budgets for TV advertising. They had their creative departments to come up with memorable TV ads, often designed to be memorable rather than to sell, and their media buyers to buy time on the commercial TV stations.

The glamour was in TV, but every company and every agency would work on a marketing mix: radio advertising, sales promotions, glossy magazine advertising, newspaper advertising, trade ads, direct mail…..all played their part. These all had one thing in common, though: they had been around for a very long time. Marketing was a stable industry, not in economic terms, but in the “tricks of the trade”. There were a few minor variations here and there, but basically, the marketing industry had its accepted, well documented, ways of doing things. Skill levels varied of course, and that’s where competition came in between the agencies and between companies in the same industries. The point is, though, it was all basically stable. Good or bad, it was stable.

Then along came the internet. Being involved in advertising in the mid 90’s, it was obvious to me that the potential was absolutely enormous. Mind boggling. It was difficult to demonstrate, though, as speeds were painfully slow. You’d try to show someone over a cup of coffee or tea, and you’d finish the drink while the second page was loading. Try coming back in 5 years. Well, they did. With a vengeance.

The internet itself came on in leaps and bounds after that. Technically it developed rapidly. Companies started to realise they “had” to have an internet presence. Why? Well, often because their competitor did, or because they thought they should before their competitor did. They were diving in, pretty much blind; they did not understand what they were getting into. The stock markets cottoned on that something big was in the offing, so .com shares were being touted to ever higher levels. Shares of companies with no substance in most cases.

I used to trade shares on a daily basis in those days, and I never touched one internet related company. I cringed every time I saw the financial figures of a listed .com. Prices of shares were often in the stratosphere while turnover was meagre and profits non existent, then and into the future. The traders in the London Stock Exchange and Wall Street did not understand. The internet was new, there was no history to go on. They simply did not understand. They were excited, and were exciting others too. The buying was frantic. The crash inevitable.

Companies all over the world were realising, though, that they must have a web presence. Companies had marketing departments and/or advertising agencies. So they too had to go along with the the tidal wave of internet anticipation. What did they do? They followed the accepted patterns for marketing in those days. TV advertising. Radio advertising. Big newspaper ads. The massive costs of those methods bore no relationship then to the potential for additional income, for sales. They were throwing money down the drain in most cases. Why? They simply did not understand!

The internet was, and is, a revolution in communications. But the marketing industry had not had a revolution, it was too bogged down in the rest of the marketing mix to realise what was really going on here. The printing press was a revolution in communications, but it took many years to spread its influence. Radio was a revolution in communications; likewise. TV? Likewise.

The internet has been more like an explosion, and after an explosion it takes time for the dust to settle. That’s one of the reasons for the maze of internet marketing. The dust is still settling. You can’t see through the dust yet. More of a haze than a maze I suppose! No, a maze in a haze!